Rural-mail-box support



Feb. 10, 1931. I HAM 17 292372 RURAL MAIL BOX SUPPORT Filed Dec. 10. 1929 MINI!!! Patented fFe EDM ND 1); HAM, OE'PIKEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA? EUR-ALrMAIL-BOX fiUPBORT- "hppiieatio xrfi led- December. 1o, 1;929'.- SleriaLlfiNo 413961 f t V "Thise inventiqnrelates t0 rural'meili box suppbrts, and; has for its" general Object the provision of 'a post including a bracke 0 which the. mail boxfmay be swingably mounted, said mail he);v being 'sfleqtiiely'latchahle in' it forward p osi'tionfip hich itfaes "the road. for 'ther'omferlience 10f the earlier i'1'1 delivering mail; and infa- 'pe sition laterally "with respect to tl leroad, so as to be Qut of V W the vWay OfunuSfualtreffiqsuch as the roadcrapeqand als o bri gi g the front of the box 1105a positron ifn \*'hich mail be reg-V moved Without the necessity of ing t sidql'the ate. A I

' 35 "A'more' Spemfi ebjeetefi the ihventiorr i s pr r eesupp ti sw n a y m u ti thejbo'x, having 'a, po s itiye latch fer helding it in mail. rje'jceivinghpositiomg and a dete t l -h. for maintaini g it opposi ely dir e so th atif the carrier findsl it the letter posi tion' he, can, by taking holdbf' the box, iteelf pee dil'y, swing it to 'itsiorwyztrcl pqsitiorr (1th,- ou-t hzgvjhg to' trouble jcll'reetly i m i u a yal ti h 7 Still another object ofthe mv'en'tlolr Is to eeds n the th r-me i whie ithe ame e e e Qt ee e e are I Q fig re t te e ,ef t qe eel-evefimnpzfgmy mm] il "borisirpperty Eig m': 2 isse planyi ew-taken alorig; thelme 21+?) 0%; Figure 1 shewiggg-the brqcketgmie MiPbsitidn}:::. :ii' Figure 3 is a section taken along-fixes the severe? of F'g'ure 2 showing the hra cket in its pos tivelatchedPQSiti ;;f 1

Figufe l; ifs e'fmgmentarypmn V w shawng thebracket.de wfiedhby heyjieldii gletch and e ,1

Figure his a; see i 5 5 oil-Figure 4.

fn when @1611; the line 7 Referring new in etgl rtqjij f sever- 1 figures, numeral 1 represents a poet \Yhieh, for

the P 'PO J I he Present inw it D is f bracket Which is in eheml designted by the. e e l l ume 'a M meu ted. djacent h upp nd oj e-post. S idmc ip eferebly comprises ahangle;rorfl'5 and a brace "V 7 -fer e vi g he ma box 8-. dii also s'a a d angle ronp ov e a fiabt p fla ge jace'nt one end preferably-by pire t al'hiean such as the screw. or rivet 9;

The braeketis mounted with its side fienge preferably in the planeof the side flangeof V thepo'st. by means ofhinges 10- and 11'. The

hinge 1O isfs eeured to the s'i de flange 5" Qf the bracketfwhile the hirigell isrborlngetfedfto the? lweifefid ef the braee 6;- The hinges erepreferably of the loose pihtle-type' anc'l v aregpreferablyisb; ahgned thata single hinge 12 y b P ss th l gh' th hii in s emb g h ;p ew lmbreqket- It will befnote'd; from'Figure Q23 which Shoiv'sf the brim} et in "its? ferrverdextended g vos b' i "th tl lm; mi ,11 1" 10 hef s flange @Wtwdum y a ainst he r t v ee 2 of he 99 Whil th S d? ang 5",. f

ure 3;; a u s sq are y g ns the fr fl ng 2. o sa p t, nd f r h rm i e" th 30f the post, any stress exerted downwardly uz n. the. h acketpis. res sted, ,b t e ent w ldfihqfth l ide ei ge dtxsa di rc T is 'les a extremely 1 g end'r 16te01;-

preferredembodimemyof the; e fip m Side-flange 5151s inthe plane of thefs i defl'ange e iect t egre u fwi hout i r em f- Tife'hfecketie (ibristructettb bfe latfdfefd in ifis ferwx' erdl yi extending positin by postems cogeistingof eflat eiereeb iy the tr-ndereie ei -the -tep figihge a;

cam nose adapted to slip automatically over the bottom edge'of a notch 16 cut inthe upper endof the-front flange 2 of the post. 'The cam nose 15 is provided with a shoulderl'l' whichwhen the camrnose has passedacross the lower edge of said notch, snapson the inner side of the front flange rigidly and positively retaining the bracket in its forward position until said latch has been released manually by pressing upwardly upon the cam HOSEl5 agMIIStthB tBHSIOH'Of the resilient shank 14. Thus, when the sup- )ort carr *in the mail box hasbeen swun i b O to the forward position, itis positively retained in this position until nianually released.

ItJwill be noted that thec'amnose15 serves asan operating handle forreleasing thelatch and that it .iextends within the angle of the post, being thus protected in a'measure' from inadvertent release, and theadjacent edge of the side flange of thepost serving as a lever for the thumb whent'hehand is in the act ofreleasing' this latch. e i

The bracket is adapted'to'be swung relative to the post through an .angleof 180 demember secured to the Linden-side of the, top flange 7 of the bracket an'd'extending freely through an aperture, 19 formed in the-side flange of the-bracket. ;Said detent latch is formed as shown in Figure 5,.with' a cam nose 20 and a recess 2 1 with sloping oppositely.

disposed cam sides. .W'hen thefibraoket is swung to side-wise position,fthe ,cain; nose 20 snaps over the lowerwallet anotch 22 'cut in the side flange of the post,.and the ,detent then snaps .down until the lowerwalrqr said notch seats'in therecess 21. :.;The cam'sides of said recess'are' such thata pull side-wise on the-bracket is'sufiicient to deflect the detent latch upward and to release thesame automatically from its engagement of the post. 1 1

It may frequently happen that after t-ak ingthe mail from the mailibox, thebracket is left inadvertently in its reverse. position. vWhen the inail carrier arrives subsequently it would be extremely inconvenient for; him to placemail inithe box, in-its re versed position, and unreasonableto expect him to take the trouble to mani-pulate' any l h ,fo h pu reseptre eas ng the brack so that it could be swung to its forward position. The present detent latch, while holding the bracket normally in reversed posilower face of the top [flange .a flat surface, 7 cleanof all niechanisniis provided for the 1 "reception of the mail box.

j In -order to enable thejinail box to be adjusted at the proper height, the post 1 is preferably made in sections 23 and 24, one 1 section having a plurality ofbolt holes 25 capable of being registered with a single bolt hole in the other section. The sections are held together inadjusted position by means such as the'bolt and nut indicated at 26in the drawings. 1 Therural mail box supportembraced in the p'resentinven'tion is constructed .with the par.- ti'c'ularh object in. view of enabling' it to be shipped in knocked down condition in a pack 7 age of desirable length, and at least short enough to be mailed by parcel post. With" this'objectin view, not onlyisth e post 1 made in sections as descr-ibe'dbut the "hinge pintle .12 maybe removed as well as the screws 9 or 27 or both, so that the bracket may be completely separated from the post and'the'parts arranged into foldedpositiong The "disassembled rural mail box support maybe put, together without the exercise ofany but the most rudimentary mechanical skill, 'it'being only necessarvto secure the brace 61in place, to pass-the hinge'pintle 12 through-both hinges placing a cotter pin28 intheloweren'd. ofthe'jhingepintle if desired, to prevent its subsequent removal and to adjust the post. sections to the desired height. I I While-Lhave in the above description, disclosedcwhat I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of my-invention, it is to be understood that the. details of construction' as shown, are by way of example only and notli'mitative in their bearing upon the scope of the invention, which latter is to be, determinedgby; theconstruction of the appended claims. I f WhatIclaimis: 1 I

. 1. A rural mail boxisupiport comprising a post of angle iron having front and side flanges, a bracket including. a'box supporting member having "top and side flanges, means for swingably mounting said bracket on said post about an axis approximatelyin the common plane of theside flanges of said post and bracket -when the latter is in forward 'po sition, the ends ofthe flanges of said bracket i abutting the front flange of said post when said b'racket is insaid forward position, and a positive latch .engageable with said ufron't flange for holding said bracketin, forfward 2. A rural mail box support comprising a post of angle iron having fronts and side flanges, a bracket including a box supporting.

member having top and side flanges, means for swingably mounting said bracket on said post about an axis approximately in the com- 7 mon plane of the side flanges of said post and bracket when the latter is in forward position, the ends of the flanges of said bracket abutting the front flange ofsaid post when said bracket is in said forward position, and a positive latch 'engageable with said front flange for holding said bracket in forwardposit-ion, the operating element of said posir tive latch extending within the angle of said post.

3(A rural mail box support comprising at post of angle iron having front and side flanges, a bracketincluding a box supporting Em member having top andside flanges, means for swingably mounting said bracket on said post about an axis approximately in the'conimon plane of the side flanges of said post and bracket when thelatter is in forward position, 7

25 the ends of the flanges of said bracket abut ting the'front flanges of said post when said bracket is in said forward position, and a positive latch engageable with said front flange for holding said bracket in forward po sition, said bracket being swingable to a position'in which its side flange overlies the side flange of said post,-an'd a detent latch projecting laterally from said bracket, engageable 1 with the side flange of said post.

' 5 4. A rural mail box support comprising a i post, a bracket mounted upon'said post swingably about a-verticalaxis throughan angle of Substantially 180 degrees to a forward mail receiving position, and to a rearward mail removing position, a positivelatchon said bracket for holding the latter in mail re *ceiving position, and a detent yieldable to lateral pressure on said bracket for holding the latter in mail removing position, said post 1- 45 being provided with means with which said latches coact.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. EDMUND D. HAM. 

